When we arrived in Sri Lanka we were all really tired because we’d had five really hot, crazy days in India. I had also got scratched by a dog and so had to go to hospital and have two rabies jabs, so it had been quite a busy week. We met Ruka, our guide and driver and he took us to our first hotel. The next day we had a…

India was our second to last stop in Asia and we spent five days there. It was the hottest I’ve ever been. We’d had a kind offer to stay in an apartment in Delhi that belonged to a friend of my mum’s. They had a lodger called Valerie who we loved spending time with and we met Sanjay, who worked for mum’s friend and looked after us. Valerie worked in…

It almost always takes me a few days to acclimatise when we arrive somewhere new. I expect to feel slightly unsettled – a bit homesick (usually for the place we’ve just left). Whilst accepting that, I still try to tune in and get a sense of our surroundings. I usually have quite a strong feeling telling me whether this new place is somewhere we will be happy to stay for…

Keith visited Nepal 25 years ago and loved it. He was really keen to return during our trip. Originally, we planned to spend 7-10 days here to include trekking and white water rafting, but for various reasons; being short of time, these actives requiring quite a lot of ‘gear’ that we are not carrying and and being a bit concerned about the overall pace of our itinerary in Asia, we…

When we left the UK I had planned the first six months of our travels. We knew where we were going and when. I had most of the accommodation booked and felt really relaxed and excited about the places we were headed to (Canada, North America, South America and Australia). We wanted to spend most of the second half of our trip in Asia. I’ve travelled to Asia quite a…

When we were in Luang Prabang, we went to a tie dye class at a place called Ock Pop Tok. This class was very enjoyable and I hadn’t done many things like it before. We learnt a lot about local Laos people, specifically the tradition of weaving with silk. Ock Pop Tok means ‘East meets West’ and was co-founded by a lady called Veomanee Douangdald, who is from Laos and…

Ta Prohm is the name of a temple built in Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Every year, more and more tourists are going to visit the Angkor Region so now over 10,000 people go and visit it each day! Lots of people go to Ta Prohm because the movie Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie was filmed there in 2001. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Ta Prohm is in almost the same condition…

We said goodbye yesterday to our friends; the Van Dyk and Sayers families from Richmond. They had travelled to Thailand to spend their Easter holidays exploring Bangkok and Krabi with us. It was the first time in Thailand for all the children and I asked them to each write something for our blog describing their favourite experience… Mikel Van Dyk (age 11) I went to Thailand and my favourite experience…

We arrived in Vietnam and spent one day in Hanoi and the next morning we got into a minibus and drove 2 hours to Tam Coc. On the way there we stopped at the tallest Pagoda in Vietnam. There were lots of Buddhas and also statues of monks. If you touch their knees that means you’ll be lucky. When we were walking around some people would grab me and take…